William s



(No Model.)

. A W. s. GRAY. SPRINKLER HEAD FOR AUTOMATIC FIRE EXTINGUISHINGAPPARATUS.

Patented Feb. 6, 1894.

INVENTOR WITNESSES:

ATTO RN EY Puma comuuw.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM S. GRAY, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

SPRINKLER-HEAD FOR AUTOMATIC FIRE-EXTINGUISHING APPARATUS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 514,220, dated February6, 1894. Application filed August 6, 1892 Serial No. 442.302. (Nomodel.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, WILLIAM S. GRAY, of the city of New York, in thecounty and State of New York, have invented a new and useful Improvementin Sprinkler-Heads for Automatic Fire-Extinguishing Apparatus, whichinvention is fully set forth and illustrated in the followingspecification and accompanying drawings.

The object of this invention is to obtain a sprinkler head which shallbe more permanently sensitive to rise of temperature, more certain andtrustworthy in its action and therefore more efficient and satisfactoryin practice.

The form of the device by whichI have car- I ried out my invention willnow be described.

In the accompanying drawings Figure 1 shows the device in elevation,complete and closed, ready to be screwed to the extinguishing pipe. Fig2, shows a vertical section through Fig. 1. Fig. 3, shows the deviceopen,

or with its deflector down, in position to distribute the extinguishingfluid. Fig. 4 is a view in plan of the interior of one part of thedevice detached from the other parts.

In said figures the several parts are indicated by reference letters asfollows:

. The letters A and B indicate, respectively, the two portions of theshell of the device into which it is divided, which parts are preferablyunited first by screw threads at c, and

' then further permanently secured together,

at said point, by solder fusible only at a high temperature. The twoparts A and B, are provided with holes or orifices at O and D, whichorifices are closed respectively by the valve E and plug or cap F, inthe following manner: The valve E has a long stem 8, tapped out at itsend to receive a small screw G, provided with differential threads, thethreads of finer pitch screwing intothe valve stem e and the threads ofa coarser pitch screwing into the plug F, tapped out to receive saidthreads. The plug F is provided with a short sleeve f, which projectsinto a recess, formed to receive it, in the part of the shell B,surrounding the orifice D. Said plug is also provided with a plate ordisk H, of

suitable diameter to act as a deflector or dis- 5o tributer of theextinguishing water. The form of said deflector may be variedat will.Instead of being a flat disk, it may be corrugated, perforated, orotherwise, its shape not being a part of this invention. Across theinterior of the device, near where the two parts A and B unite isinserted a perforated bar or guide 9 for the valve E and its stem e. Thelocation of this bar limits the fall of the valve E, when opened. Withinthe part B is a bushing K, by which the diameter .of the hole D, may beregulated readily by a change of the bushing. V

The method of closing-the sprinkler, and

its method of automatic action will now be I described.

With the parts constructed as above de-. scribed, the stem of the valveE is first inserted through the hole in the bar g, when the valve E willrest on said bar, if the part B be held in a vertical position. ThepartsA and B, may then be screwed together bythe threads 0, as beforedescribed. The screw G may then I be screwed into the plug F and enteredalso into the valve stem e, when the plug F may be pushed far enough forits sleeve f, to en'- ter the recess formed for it in the part B, asshown in Fig. 2, said recess and said sleeve having been previouslyrespectively, filled in and coated with solder fusible at a low tem- 8operature so that the parts being heated enough to soften the solder willfirmly cohere and stick together as soon as the metal, preferably brass,shall become cool. Instead of the plug F, projecting into the shell B,agroove in the plug may receive the end of the shell and the parts besoldered together in said groove or re-' cess. The screw G being thenfarther screwed in will sufficiently lengthen the valve stem 9, to causethe valve E to press tightly against 0 its seat around the hole 0, andmake a water tight joint at said point. Any suitable material may beused to form an inserted seat 71., as may be desired-such as anon-corrosive metal or other durable and suitable material. 9 5

The bushing K, may be of thin metal either sprung into place orpermanently fastened as may be desired, and the part of the shell A,

provided with screw threads d, is preferably made of cast metal, thepart B being prefer ably struck up of sheet metal, but may also be castif desired.

It can now be readily seen that upon the out-break of a fire, where thissprinkler head may be used, that the solder holding the plug F to thepart B, will fuse at the low temperature of the incipient fire whichfusing of the solder will cause the valve E to open under the pressureof the water on its face, and the valve will be forced against the barg. The water passing all around the valve E will then pour out of theorifice D, and, distributed or sprayed by the deflector H, will beshowered upon a certain area of surrounding space and upon any fire thatmay be within such space.

Great difficulty has heretofore been experienced in keeping theoperating parts of sprinkler-heads free from dust and impuritiesfloating in the air, which clog up the orifices for the escape of water,as well as the operating parts, and render the solder less sensitive torise of temperature. These difficulties are obviated by hermeticallyclosing the shell of the sprinkler-head as herein described, thuspreventing dust from entering the sprinkler-head, as well as preventingthe escape of water or compressed air, contained in the pipes to whichthe sprinkleris attached, should there be any leakage around the valve.The shell proper is made into the two parts A and 13 independently ofthe third part, the valve-closing and deflecting-plug F, not only inorder that the one part may be made of struck-up metal instead of cast,but in order that the valve E, its stem e and supporting bar 9, may beplaced in proper position before the two parts A and B are securedtogether, for, the diameter of the valve being greater than that of thehole for its stem through the bar and also greater than that through thevalve-seat, such construction will enable all the parts to meet in placeor proper position for final adjustment before the plug, or third part,F, is soldered in place with solder fusible at low temperature. It willbe evident that this two-part construction permits of the bar 9 beinglocated in either of the parts A and B. It will be observed that thehole in the bar 9, may be made considerably larger in diameter than thediameter of the valve-stem 6, though smaller than the diameter of thevalve E. There is an advantage in this construction, namely, that whenthe extinguisher is discharged and the Water impinges upon thedeflecting-plug F, at the bottom of the valve stem 6, the impact of thewater causes said deflecting-plug to wabble,

which plug may be made of any suitable shape or corrugation to assist inthe operation. This Wabbling or rotation of the stem within its supportwill increase the scattering or spraying of the water and cause thewater to be dispersedover a considerably larger area of space than if nosuch wabbling were produced.

The advantage of having a sleeve or annular tongue f, soldered within agroove (said tongue and groove being either in the plug F or the shell13, respectively, as may be preferred) is that adouble surface of metalfor the contact of the solder is obtained with but half the lap of metalrequired if the solder merely united two single surfaces. But this isnot the only or principal advantage. Difficulty has always heretoforebeen met with in the tendencyof the soldered surfaces to creep or springapart, due to the unequal contraction and expansion of the solder andthe brass under variations of temperature where but a single line ofsolder united two single surfaces. The tendency in such cases when onceelongation or contraction takes place, is always to rupture the solder,and under such to-and-fro motions the solder is liable to, andfrequently has in practice, become ruptured or has allowed the valve tospring from its seat. My construction of the sleeve or annular tongueand groove obviates this diiliculty and permits contraction andexpansion to go on indefinitely without bringing any rupturing orcreeping strain upon the solder.

Having thus fully described my invention, I claim 1. A sprinkler-headforthe automatic extinguishment of fire, consisting of a hollow shellformed of a middle part and two endpieces or parts secured together, theportion comprising one end-part and the middle part containing avalve-seat, a valve and a bar or stop to support the valve when open,the other end-part supporting the valve-stem and se cured to the middlepart by solder fusible at a low temperature, said three parts forming,together, a closed shell impervious to dust, until the fusion of saidsolder, when the valve is released and the shell opened for the escapeof the extinguishing water, substantially as set forth.

2. A sprinkler-head for the automatic extinguishment of fire having ashell perforated at one end and provided around such perforation with anannular groove, in combination with a plug provided with a tongue orannular projection fitted into said groove and soldered, within saidgroove, to said shell, for the purposes set forth.

3. A sprinkler-head for the automatic extinguishment of fire, consistingof a hollow shell formed of the following named parts: an end-part and amiddle-part secured together and containing a valve-seat, a valve and abar or stop to support the valve when open, said middle part being alsoprovided with an annular groove; and a deflectingplug provided with atongue or annular projection fitting into said groove and soldered,within said groove, to said middle part; said three parts forming,together, a closed shell impervious to dust, substantially as and forthe purposes set forth.

4. A sprinkler-head for the automatic ex- IIO or screw havingdifierential screw-threads; substantially as set forth.

WM. S. GRAY.

Witnesses:

FRANCIS P. REILLY, THEO. H. FRIEND.

